Locomotive driving connection.



m 9m 13 Own 4 4 2 0 M E H d 64 b H e t a P J. E. WEBSTER.

LOGOMOTIVE DRIVING GONNEGTION.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 10, 1912.

IN VENTOI? WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY.

J. E. WEBSTER.

LOGOMOTIVE DRIVING CONNECTION.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN. 10, 1912.

1,070,564, Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES: INVEIVTDH 6km I ,4 TOIM'EY.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0..WA5H|Nu'roN, D. C-

J. E. WEBSTER.

LOGOMOTIVE DRIVING CONNECTION.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.10, 1912.

1,070,564. Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON, n. c.

J. HWEBSTER. LOGOMOTIVE DRIVING CONNECTION.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 10, 1912. v

Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

%Ygl lNVENTOg ATTORNEY ltl lill f ldfi STATES AFT JOI-IN E. WEBSTER, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LOCOMOTIVE DRIVING CONNECTION.

reverses.

Application filed January 10, 1912.

To all whom it may cone-cm Be it known that 1, JOHN E. lVnBsrER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Locomotive Driving Connections, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to locomotives and other self-propelled railway vehicles and it has special reference to the driving connections between the motors and the driving wheels of electric locomotives.

The object of my invention is to provide a relatively simple, yielding, driving connection of the class above indicated that shall embody means for absorbing the shocks and thereby reducing the strains to which the connected parts are subjected.

In my co-pending application, Serial No. 640,194, filed July 24, 1911, I have shown and described a yielding driving connection of the same general class as that to which this invention pertains.

According to my present invention, I introduce means for avoiding vibration of the spring-connected parts and absorbing the shocks to which the connection is constantly subjected in service when the locomotive or other vehicle is started under adverse conditions or when the brakes are suddenly applied to the drivers. Furthermore, driving connections of this general class show a tendency to vibrate or oscillate with increasing amplitude in case the driving Wheels slip, causing the springs to be completely compressed or considerably extended and a heavy blow to be delivered to the wheel spokes by the radial driving arms.

My shock-absorbing devices are so introduced as to damp out or prevent the vibration above referred to and to materially improve the character and operation of the driving connection. In order to avoid any material decrease in the resiliency of the yielding connection, I so construct the shockabsorbing devices to offer practically no opposition to relatively slight adjustments between the springconnected parts, while they very strongly oppose displacements or large changes in the relative positions of the members.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 19,1913.

Serial No. 670,521.

an elevation of a driving connection embodying my invention and constructed in accordance therewith, certain of the parts being broken away to clearly set forth each element of the connection. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on the line 11-11 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are, respectively, a plan view and a side elevation, on a larger scale, of one of the shock-absorbing devices shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation on the line V-V of Fig. a. Figs. 6, 7, 8 and 9 are detail views of the friction plates which form parts of the shock-absorbing devices of Figs. 3, 1- and 5. Figs. 10 and 11 are, respectively, a partial elevation and a sectional view, on a larger scale, of the gear wheel shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawings, the structure here shown comprises a driving axle 1 which is equipped with the usual driving wheels 2, only one of which is shown, an electric driving motor 8, a quill or sleeve 4 surrounding the axle 1 and a driving connection between the motor and the driving wheels.

The driving connection comprises a pinion 5 secured to the end of the motor shaft 6, a gear wheel 7 which is mounted on the outer end of the sleeve or quill at and is equipped with shock-absorbing devices 8, radial arms 9 which are secured to projections 10 of the gear wheel 7 and springs 11. which are interposed between the spokes 12 of the driving wheel and the radial arms 9. Each of the shock-absorbing devices 8 has the general form of a shallow, hollow cylindrical box and comprises a hub member 13 which is mounted on a stud 14: that projects inwardly from the outer face of the gear wheel 7. A rim member 143, which is rotatively mounted on the hub member 18 and is provided with an annular flange 1G and a plurality of friction plates 17 and 18, which respectively have the forms shown in Figs. 6 and S, and 7 and 9 and are assembled alternately witl in the box provided by the members 13 and 15. The hub member 13 is provided with a pin 19 which projects into a hole 20 in the gear wheel 7 and, in conjunction with the stud 14l, prevents rotation of the member 13 relative to the gear wheel. T he member 13 is provided with a flange 20 which is hex agonal in form and upon which the friction plates 18 are mounted.

The plates 17 are provided with lugs or projections 21 which fit into notches 22 in the periphery of the member 15 and are provided with circular openings 23 which are sufliciently large to avoid interference with the hexagonal surface of the member 20. The plates 17 and 18 are all correspondingly corrugated or fluted so that they are nested together in assembling and are held in position by means of a circular plate 24 which is secured to the flange 16 of the member 15 by means of the bolts 25, as shown in Fig. 4, the plate and the flange being provided with perforated lugs 26 and 27 for this purpose. The member 15 is held in position on a cylindrical projection 28 of the member 13 by means of a nut 29- which is screwed upon the outer end of the stud 14. The number of plates 17 and 18 assembled between the plate 2 1 and the member 15 is such as to permit a slight rotative adjustment between the member 15 and its friction plates 17 and the member 13 and its friction plates 18, without any material opposition, but the corrugations or flutes in the friction plates tend to maintain a fixed relation between the two members and very strongly oppose any material rotative adj ustment between them. The member 15 is provided with a lug 30 which is connected to a pin or bolt 31 that extends inwardly from one of the driving wheel spokes 12 by means of a link 32.

As clearly shown in Figs. 10 and 11, the gear wheel 7 is provided with pockets 33 in which the box members of the shock-absorbing devices are located and circular holes 3 1 through which the bolts or pins 31 extend, the diameter of the hole being considerably larger than the diameter of the pin in order to permit considerable rotative movement of the driving wheel relative to the gear without conflict.

The arms 9 are, as above indicated, secured to the projection 10 of the gear wheel 7 and are connected to the driving wheel spokes 12 by meansof springs 11. It is evident that the driving connection between the motor pinion 5 and the driving wheel is complete even if the shock-absorbing devices 8 are omitted and, as long as the springs 11 are able to transmit the load without being materially compressed or extended, the shock-absorbing devices have practically no effect on the operation of the drive, in fact, this is a very important feature of my invention since it is particularly desirable to secure the full benefit of the yielding connection when the loads are normal. On the other hand, when heavy loads are suddenly applied to the motor or under abnormal conditions as, for example, when a driving wheel slips on the rail, the driving springs, when used alone, are found to permit a vibration or oscillation between the connected parts, as already pointed out, which may result in the springs being either fully compressed or widely extended and the arms thrown violently against the Wheel spokes. The shock-absorbing devices 8 very strongly oppose any material compression or extension of the driving springs, since any such rotative movement between the gear wheel and the driving wheel produces a relative rotative movement between the two sets of friction plates in each of the shock-absorbing devices, and the shape of the plate is such as to resist such movement with very rapidly increasing power.

A similar driving connection will usually be provided at the opposite end of the driving wheel axle but this is not essential to my invention.

Since other forms of shock-absorbing devices may be substituted for those illustrated in the drawings without departing from my invention, I desire to claim broadly the use of a shock-absorbing device having the above named characteristics in connection with yieldingly connected parts of a driving connection.

1 claim as my invention:

1. A driving connection comprising a driving member, a driven member, a set of springs circumferentially disposed around the driven member, and a set of shock-absorbing devices circumferentially disposed between the yieldingly connected members.

2. A driving connection comprising a r0- tary driving member, a driven member yieldingly connected thereto by a set of circumferentially disposed springs, and a set of shock-absorbing devices also circumferentially disposed between the yieldingly connected members and opposing material movement of one of the members relative to the other.

3. A driving connection for railway vehicles comprising a driving motor, truck wheels and an axle therefor, a set of driving springs uniformly spaced around said axle, and a set of shock-absorbing devices also uniformly spaced around the axle and connected in multiple relation to the yielding connection.

1. A driving connection for railway vehicles comprising a driving motor, truck wheels and an axle therefor, a sleeve or quill surrounding said axle, a gear wheel mounted on one end of the sleeve or quill and yieldingly connected to the corresponding truck wheel, and a plurality of shock-absorbing devices interposed between the gear wheel and the truck wheel to oppose any material relative rotative movement of said members.

5. A driving connection for railway vehicles comprising truck wheels and an axle therefor, a sleeve or quill surrounding said axle, driving gear wheels secured to the re speotive ends of the sleeve or quill, yielding In testimony whereof, I have hereunto connections between the truck Wheel spokes subscribed my name this 28th day of Deo,

and the driving gear Wheels and means for 1911. permlttmg slight relative movement of the JOHN E. WEBSTER. drix ing gear Wheels and the truck Wheels Witnesses:

R. A. SCHMIDT,

and opposing material relative movement B. B. HINES.

thereof.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

